Kerry Skarbakka: The Falling Photographer

Kerry Skarbakka photographs himself falling from trees, jumping off bridges and in the midst of fires – all in the name of art.

As the Falling Photographer, Kerry has traveled both near and far, searching for suitable locations to document his craft. Many of them are real leaps of faith, with no safety equipment to aid him if things should go wrong. Others, however, are a mere trick of the eye, shot with cleverly hidden climbing gear and cushioned landings. The resulting photographs, however, remain striking.

According to the artist, he first began taking the themed pictures to cope with the helplessness he felt after the 9/11 attacks. He currently has a small collection of 40 different photographs in his roster, all of which have been shown in galleries around the world. His current goal is to shoot enough material to be able to publish a book of his work.

Portraits of Power by Platon

The New Yorker has published 44 portraits of world leaders taken by Platon during the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September. They include leaders great and small, ranging from the president of Kiribati to Silvio Berlusconi of Italy and Asif Zardari of Pakistan. In addition to Ahmadinejad and Chavez, men like Robert Mugabe and Muammar Gaddafi also sat down. Platon descrbies Ahmadinejad as a “childlike figure … He giggles like a little boy.”